ABSTRACT
As I shall show in Chapter 2, the phenomenon of fire has always played a significant and many-faceted part in the history of humanity. Throughout this history it has been put to many uses; for example as an agent of succour, warmth and light, of healing and cleansing, but also of destruction. This last capacity is only all too self-evident in contemporary society with almost daily reports of bombings, explosions and serious accidents involving deaths and maimings caused by fire. However, the fortunes amassed from the manufacture of explosive substances sometimes may be put to good use, as for example in the case of Alfred Nobel. There are few rituals in which it has not played a significant part. In this context, Mary Douglas, the distinguished anthropologist, makes the following important point:
Death, blood and coldness are confronted by their opposites, life, sex and fire. All six powers are dangerous. The three positive powers are dangerous unless separated from one another and are in danger from contact with death, blood or coldness.1
